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| November 1 |
National Security Minister
Serge Sarkisian submits his resignation to President Kocharian following
calls for his dismissal in the wake of last month's killings in the
parliament. The Defense Ministry had issued demands for the resignations
of the national security minister, Interior Minister Suren Abrahamian,
who tendered his resignation on October 31st, and the prosecutor-general.
President Kocharian refuses to accept any of the resignations, stating
that the present cabinet should remain in place until a new prime
minister is appointed.
The official Nagorno Karabagh state-run news service issues a strong
condemnation of Russian press reports which allege that the Karabagh
government may have organized the October 27th killings in the Armenian
parliament as part of a conspiracy to derail the Nagorno Karabagh
peace talks. The Russian allegations add that the lead gunman in the
attack on the Armenian parliament, Nairi Unanian, had ties to Karabagh
Prime Minister Anushevan Danielian during the early 1990s, when both
men were in Crimea. |
| November 2 |
A special session of parliament
elects Armen Khachatrian of the People's Party as the new parliamentary
chairman and Gagik Aslanian of the People's Party and Tigran Torosian
of the Republican Party as deputy chairmen. Addressing the session
prior to his election, Khachatrian urges the deputies to continue
the policies of the slain leaders and calls for a multi-party consensus
to maintain political stability. Khachatrian formerly served as the
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. Praising
the election, President Kocharian states that the session demonstrates
the strengthening of democracy in Armenia and announces that he will
name a new prime minister and cabinet shortly. |
| November 3 |
President Kocharian appoints
Aram Sarkisian, the brother of slain premier Vazgen Sarkisian, as
the new prime minister. Initially proposed by the ruling Unity bloc,
the 38-year old Aram Sarkisian was elected in May as a parliamentarian
from his late brother's Republican Party. Sarkisian, a construction
engineer, runs the Ararat cement factory in Yerevan and, prior to
being elected to parliament in May, has no political experience. |
| November 4 |
Archbishop Garegin Nersisian,
elected last month as the new head of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
is formally inaugurated as the 132nd Catholicos. The new Church leader,
formerly the head of the country's largest diocese, vows to accelerate
cooperation between church and state.
Security officials announce that they have detained parliamentarian
Mushegh Movsisian for questioning in their investigation into the
recent killings in parliament. A session of parliament names replacements
for the five slain deputies who were all members of the ruling Unity
bloc. |
| November 5 |
Meeting in Moscow with
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, President Kocharian discusses the expansion
of bilateral relations and briefs the Russian leaders on the status
of recent meetings with Azerbaijani President Aliyev regarding the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict. Armenian Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian
also meets with his Russian counterpart to review issues relating
to military and security relations. |
| November 7-8 |
Criminal charges are filed
against pollster and former journalist Nairi Badalian for "assisting
in the crime" of attacking the parliament and assassinating senior
leaders and deputies. According to spokesmen of the military prosecutor's
office, Badalian faces a ten-year prison sentence if convicted. |
| November 9 |
A bomb explodes in the
defense ministry's office of the military industrial division killing
Major Vardan Gnouni. The victim was the son of former education minister
Vartkes Gnouni.
President Kocharian appoints recently returned ambassador to the United
States Rouben Shugarian to the post of deputy foreign minister. Ambassador
Shugarian served as Armenia's ambassador in Washington since 1992
and is replaced by the ambassador to Greece, Arman Kirakossian.
In a meeting focusing on the Nagorno Karabagh conflict, Azerbaijani
President Geidar Aliyev complains to the visiting French co-chairman
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE)
Minsk Group that the OSCE mediation effort is "inactive"
and adds that his direct meetings with Armenian President Robert Kocharian
have yielded more significant results. Aliyev adds that the Azerbaijani-Armenian
dialogue does not, however, "absolve the OSCE of its responsibility
for resolving the Nagorno Karabagh conflict." The Azerbaijani
president urges the newly-installed French OSCE official, Jean-Jacques
Gaillard, to press the Minsk Group to accelerate its mediation efforts
while maintaining a fair and objective approach to the conflict.
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| November 10 |
The parliament votes to
lift the parliamentary immunity of Mushegh Movsisian, following a
request by the Prosecutor-General's office. Criminal charges are being
prepared against Movsisian, an independent deputy, after he was implicated
in the parliament killings by the leader of the five gunmen who stormed
the parliament. With the pending charges against Movsisian, there
are now a total of ten individuals detained in the case.
Prime Minister Sarkisian meets with the heads of parliamentary committees
to discuss his plans for continuing the policies of his late brother.
The new prime minister specifically vows to follow the terms of the
September agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and rejects any plans to raise taxes in the next four years, promising
instead to simplify the tax code and to improve tax collection. Although
praising the military for its "stabilizing role" in the
aftermath of the parliamentary killings, Sarkisian states that the
political institutions have to be strong enough to deter the military
from adopting a political role.
The Azerbaijani-Armenian presidential talks on Nagorno Karabagh unifies
the Azerbaijani political opposition, which releases a joint appeal
endorsed by eighteen political parties and movements calling for Azerbaijan
to adopt several measures regarding the Karabagh conflict. The Azerbaijani
opposition statement specifically calls for the complete withdrawal
of all Karabagh forces from positions within Azerbaijan proper and
demands that Armenia pay for material damages incurred during the
course of the conflict. The Islamic Party of Azerbaijan refrains from
endorsing the joint appeal but issues a separate statement warning
of the dangers of pursuing "defeatists policies" that infringe
on Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. |
| November 11 |
Vazgen Manukian, the leader
of the National Democratic Union (NDU), states that once the political
situation stabilizes, new presidential and parliamentary elections
are necessary to restore the legitimacy of the country's leadership.
Manukian adds that the appointment of the late prime minister's brother
as his replacement is "unwise" and that the new prime minister
lacks the qualifications needed for the post. |
| November 12 |
President Kocharian and
Prime Minister Sarkisian announce the appointments of two professional
law enforcement personnel, Karlos Petrosian as National Security Minister
and Haik Harutiunian as Interior Minister. Garen Jshmaritian replaces
Haik Gevorkian as Industry and Trade Minister and Kocharian agrees
to the prime minister's demand of retaining Vahan Shirkhanian as Minister
for Industrial Infrastructure. Kocharian was initially opposed to
keeping Shirkhanian, a former deputy defense minister, reportedly
for his role in the defense ministry's recent call for the dismissals
of the ministers of interior and national security and the prosecutor-general.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, in telephone conversations, assures
the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents of his personal commitment
to forging a negotiated resolution to the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.
The Russian president also briefs the leaders on the Russian position
regarding the Chechenya conflict in preparation for the upcoming OSCE
summit meeting in Istanbul. |
| November 13 |
In response to another
earthquake in neighboring Turkey, the Armenian government dispatches
a 24-person rescue team to assist Turkish authorities. Similar Armenian
assistance to Turkey was also provided after an August earthquake,
although the Turkish government initially refused Armenian offers
of aid. |
| November 15 |
Security forces go on alert
and evacuate the parliament after receiving a telephone warning. The
security forces discover and disarm a package of low-grade explosives
in the parliament chamber.
Former Nagorno Karabagh Defense Minister and current Chief of the
Armed Forces Samvel Babayan issues a strong statement condemning recent
press reports, which allege that he was somehow involved in last month's
attack on the Armenian parliament and the subsequent killings of the
prime minister and other senior officials. Babayan accuses "certain
political lightweights" of smearing his reputation and reiterates
his firm stand not to interfere in domestic Armenian politics. |
| November 16 |
President Kocharian announces
the appointment of former National Security Minister Serge Sarkisian
as the head of presidential administration, roughly equivalent to
chief of staff, and the shifting of Aleksan Harutiunian to the post
of Presidential Foreign Policy Adviser. The president also appoints
career prosecutor Boris Nazarian to replace Prosecutor-General Aghvan
Hovsepian.
In a televised interview, Armenian President Robert Kocharian states
that the recent killings of senior government officials and deputies,
including the prime minister, have set-back the peace talks on the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict by several months. The Armenian president
says there will be no formal agreement on the conflict signed at the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit
in Istanbul, but adds that he will most likely meet with Azerbaijani
President Geidar Aliyev and the French, Russian and U.S. foreign ministers
in an attempt to advance the peace process. The involvement of Russia,
France and the United States is critical, given their roles as co-chairing
nations of the OSCE's working group empowered to mediate the Karabagh
conflict, the so-called "Minsk Group." |
| November 17 |
President Kocharian meets
with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel during the Istanbul summit
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The Turkish president reiterates that Kocharian that the "establishment
of formal diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia is contingent
on resolving the Nagorno Karabagh conflict." Demirel also states
that although Turkey is not considering Armenia in the complex negotiations
over constructing a new pipeline for Azerbaijani oil exports, it will
not exclude the possibility of utilizing Armenian territory in the
future. |
| November 18 |
Speaking at the OSCE Istanbul
summit, Presidents Kocharian and Aliyev both call for the formation
of a new regional security system comprising the three states of the
Transcaucasus with Russia, Turkey and the United States. This new
regional security grouping would, according to both leaders, supplement
the existing European security system and would call for the withdrawal
of all "foreign troops" from the region. The two presidents
also hold a meeting with OSCE Chairman-in-Office Knut Vollebaek and
the foreign ministers of France, Russia and the U.S. to review the
status of Karabagh peace-talks. Kocharian and Aliyev also meet separately
with U.S. President Clinton who commends them for their several rounds
of peace talks.
The Istanbul summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) adopts a document endorsing the recent meetings and
talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents regarding the
Nagorno Karabagh conflict. The document calls for the resumption of
the OSCE mediation effort by the Minsk Group, defining it as "the
most appropriate format for finding a solution to the conflict."
Armenian officials attending the 54-nation summit commend the OSCE
summit for asserting a "positive role" in removing obstacles
to achieving more progress in the mediation effort. |
| November 19-26 |
Nagorno Karabagh President
Arkady Gukasyan meets with the Armenian-American communities in Boston,
New York, Detroit and Los Angeles during a tour of the United States.
Accompanied by the Nagorno Karabagh Representative in Washington Vartan
Barseghyan, President Gukasyan briefs the communities of his government's
efforts to rebuild the Karabagh economy and notes the significant
progress achieved, to date, in restoring the infrastructure of Nagorno
Karabagh. |
| November 22 |
Nagorno Karabagh Foreign
Minister Naira Melkoumian explains to reporters that the recent proposal
to establish a regional security grouping comprised of Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Turkey, Russia and the United States must be approached cautiously,
adding that the proposals by Armenian President Kocharian and Azerbaijani
President Aliyev are, in fact, significantly different. The foreign
minister states that the Kocharian plan, unlike the option offered
by Aliyev, does not restrict the membership of the regional security
group and would allow for Iran and Karabagh to enter into the new
security arrangement. Melkoumian recommends that the most feasible
approach would be to formalize such a regional security group only
when a comprehensive peace plan on Nagorno Karabagh is achieved. |
| November 25 |
While on a visit to Moscow,
Sergei Badalian, the leader of the Armenian Communist Party dies of
a heart attack. The 52-year old communist ran unsuccessfully for president
in 1996 and 1998.
Karabagh President Gukasyan and Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
participate in the Los Angeles Thanksgiving Day telethon, organized
by the Armenia Fund to raise money for the construction of a 169-kilometer
north-south highway in Karabagh. The telethon, the third such fundraising
event, raises over $5 million for the project. President Gukasyan
notes that this telethon is more than just a fund-raiser, but in fact
an important demonstration of the Armenian American community's involvement
in the strengthening of Nagorno Karabagh and reinforces the unity
of Armenia, Karabagh and the Diaspora. |
| November 26 |
Russian and Armenian officials
announce a joint investigation into a grenade explosion outside of
the Russian embassy in Yerevan the day before. |
| November 29 |
Officials of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) announce plans to tour
Nagorno Karabagh and to inspect the Armenian-Azerbaijani border area
sometime in mid-December. The OSCE delegation hopes to use the regional
tour to consolidate the OSCE Minsk Group's mediation effort with the
recent direct talks between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. |
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